Vehicle-brake.



(No Model.)

WHITZSSCS Patented 1an. 9, |900. A. L. PARKER.

VEHICLE BRAKE.

(Appliation led 9ct. 28, 1899.)

STATESY PATENT Prion..

AARON L. PARKER, OF PHILADELPHIA, MISSISSIPPI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- I-IALF TO Z. H. KIMBROUGH, OF DIXON, MISSISSIPPI.

VEHICLE-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,146, dated January 9, 1900.

l Application filed October 2S, 1899. Serial N0.735,102. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AARON L. PARKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Neshoba and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and useful Vehicle-Brake, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in vehicle-brakes.

One object of the present invention is to improve the construction of vehicle-brakes and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and eficient one adapted to be readily applied to any ordinary two-horse vehicle to engage the front wheels thereof and capable in descending an incline of automatically checking the vehicle.

A further object of the invention is to enable the brake-shoes to be readily locked into and out of engagement with the wheels to prevent the vehicle from moving forward or backward and also to enable the same to be backed without applying the brake.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of the running-gear provided with an automatic brake constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail transverse sectional View illustrating the manner of mounting the brake-beam on the front hounds.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

l designates a pole or tongue having its rear portion slidingly mounted between the front portions of a pair of front hounds 2 and having its rear end 3 reduced and guided in an opening 4 of a transverse bar 5, which connects the front hounds 2 at a point in advance of the front axle. The front ends of the front hounds are connected by upper and lower plates G and 7, secured to their upper and lower faces and forming a way for the rear end of the tongue or pole. The upper plate `6 is provided with a slot 8, through which passes a lever 9 for locking the tongue or pole against longitudinal movement to hold the pair of brake-shoes l0 in and out of engagement with front wheels 1l. The brake-shoes 10 are mounted on the ends of a transverse brake-beam 12,1ocated in advance of the front wheels ll and connected at its center with the pole or tongue bya pin 13, which extends through a central longitudinal slot 14 of the upper plate G. The upper portion of the pin 13 is supported by a strap l5, secured at its rear end to the upper face of the tongue or pole l and extending over the upper face of the brake-beam, as clearly illustrated in Fig. l of the accompanying drawings. The brakebeam is supported at opposite sides of the pivot'by longitudinal loops or keepers 16, mounted on and extending longitudinally of the upper face of the front hounds and adapt ed to prevent the pin 13 from being strained by the action of the wheels on the brakeshoes. Each loop or keeper preferably consists of a rod having its ends bent downward at right angles and secured to the adjacent hound by nuts or other suitable fastening devices.

Thelever9,whichissubstantiallyT-shaped, is fulcrumed by a pin 17 on the adjacent hound, and its arms 18 and 19 are adapted to engage stops20and 21, consisting of pins or projections extending from one side of the `tongue or pole and located in advance and in rear of the pivot of the lever. The arms are provided at their outer ends with notches or recesses to receive the stops or projections, and the upper plate is provided at the ends of the slot 8 with resilient extensions or tongues 23, forming springs and adapted to engage the upper arm of the lever to retain the lower one in engagement with the stop or rather to assist in preventing it from becoming accidentally disengaged by any jar or vibration. The arms are arranged at an inclination when in engagement with the stops, and the front one 20 is adapted to be engaged by the lever to prevent the tongue from moving rearward, whereby the brake-shoes will be held od the wheels, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings. When the lever is in engagement with the rear stop, the brake-shoes are locked in engagement with the wheels.

IOO

The lever is adapted to be readily operated by the foot of the driver, and the brake-beam is further supported by chains 24, secured at their rear ends tothe axle at points between the hounds and the wheels and attached at their front ends to the beam near the ends thereof. These stay-chains are preferably adjustably connected at their front ends to the said beam by means of clips, which are adapted to engage any of the links of the chains.

It will be seen that the brake, which is simple and comparatively inexpensive in construction, is positive, reliable, and automatic in operation, and that it is capable of being looked with its brake-shoes in or out of engagement with the Wheels to prevent a vehicle from moving backward or forward and to permit the same to be backed without applying the brake. Furthermore, it will be seen that when the sliding tongue or pole is free to move the brake-shoes will be auto- -niatically held against the front wheels when a vehicle is descending an incline by reason of the said vehicle moving forward upon the draft-animals,and that the forward movement of the vehicle will be automatically checked, and that the wheels will be similarly relieved of the brake-shoes when the draft-animals move forward or exert any strain on the tongue or pole.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacriiicing any of the advantages of this invention.

What is claimed is- 1. In an automatic vehicle-brake, the combination of a running-gear having a tongue capable of longitudinal movement, a brakebeam connected with the tongue and adapted to be actuated by the same and provided with brake-shoes, projections extending from one side of the tongue, and a lever fulcrumed on the running-gear at a point between the said projections and arranged to engage either of them, whereby the brake-shoes are locked in and out of engagement with the wheels, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In an automatic vehicle-brake, the combination of a running-gear having a sliding tongue, a brake-beam connected with and operated by the tongue, projections extending from one side of the latter, and a substantially T-sh'aped lever fulcrumed on the running-gear at one side of the tongue, at a point between the said projections and provided at the ends of its arms with recesses or notches adapted to receive the said projections, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In an automatic vehicle-brake, the combination of a running gear having front hounds and provided with upper and lower plates connecting the saine, the upper plate being slotted and having resilient tongues or springs arranged at the ends of the slot, a sliding tongue arranged between the hounds and provided with stops, and a substantially T-shaped lever extending through the slot and fulcrumed on the adjacent hound at a point adjacent to the said stops, and arranged to engage the same, the upper arm being adapted t-o be engaged by the adjacenttongne or spring, substantially as described.

4. In an automatic vehicle-brake, the coinbination of a running-gear having upper and lower plates connecting its fronthounds, the upper plate being slotted, said running-gear being provided in rear of the said plates, with a transverse bar having a guide-opening, a tongue slidingly mounted between the plates and having its rear end reduced and arranged in the guide-opening of the transversebar, a brake-beam arranged upon the upper plate, connected with the tongue and provided with brakeshoes, loops or keepers mounted on the running gear and supporting the brakebeam, and means for locking the tongue againstlongitudinal movement, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

AARON Il. PARKER.

Witnesses: l

ETHEL STRIBLING, J. C. GULLY. 

